Nine police officers are killed by a Pakistani suicide bomber.

In an attack on their truck in southwest Pakistan on Monday, a suicide bomber left nine police officers dead and 16 others injured, according to officials.

Security forces have been fending off Pakistan Taliban strikes as well as a militant insurgency in Balochistan that has lasted years and demands a larger share of the province's wealth (TTP).
Senior police official Abdul Hai Aamir told AFP that the suicide bomber was riding a motorcycle when he struck the truck from behind.

The incident happened roughly 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of Quetta in Balochistan, close to Dhadar, the district's largest town.

The police vehicle was photographed in the aftermath lying on its side on the road with its windows broken.
Mehmood Notezai, the police commander for the Kachhi district, told AFP that the cops were coming home after serving as security for a week-long cattle exhibition.
No one has taken responsibility for the attack.
In a statement issued by his office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed that the terrorism occurring in Balochistan was a part of a sinister plot to destabilize the nation.
Five people perished this month when a TTP suicide squad raided a police compound in Karachi, a port city.

It happened only a few weeks after a police mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, was bombed, killing more than 80 officers. The attacker, a group occasionally associated with the TTP, claimed responsibility for the incident.

The nation is dealing with converging political, economic, and environmental issues in addition to a deteriorating security environment in which the army and police have come under growing attack.

The largest, least populated, and poorest province in Pakistan is Balochistan.

It boasts a wealth of natural resources, but the residents have long harbored grudges because they feel they do not get a fair part of the wealth.

An influx of Chinese investment under Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, which locals claim has not reached them, has exacerbated tensions.

Upgrades to the infrastructure, electrical, and transportation links between China's far-western Xinjiang province and Pakistan's Gwadar port are being made as part of a $54 billion project known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

AFP